I recently finished an executive speaking tour in Europe and America, and
have been struck by the increasing gap between the information society which has only started to emerge in Europe and America and how far the digital age has already become common place in South Korea. My peers are regularly surprised and curious
to find out more about how Digital citizens are rapidly evolving and how living in the most connected culture in the world
is quickly changing how we live and create.
Recognizing that this book will help educate citizens, leaders in business and
government on what a real information society can be, I'm delighted and humbled to contribute to this book and be a fellow
evangelist and champion of the power of digital citizens and technology sectors to make a difference.
We are extremely proud to play a part in contributing to the Digital Korea Blueprint
with Cyworld, a service favorably used by more than 20 million Koreans. There are many ways of categorizing the service -
from literally Cy Relationship world, to advanced social Media networking, next generation blogging, music distribution, Web
2.0, and not to mention video sharing. The fact is Cyworld, like many Digital Korea offspring is still evolving fast in a
range of countries on different continents. Cyworld, as the most advanced community platform, is also converting millions
of pc based users to mobile. It became the first mass market success story for monetization of social network services through
closely integrating its service values with the right business models.
What really keeps us excited is the always-on-connection we have with the most
digitally demanding audiences in the world and how that will shape the future of the Internet, Telecoms and even traditional
media and Broadcasting Industries.
With the help of digital innovation and rapid development of internet,
the boundaries between industries and walls between digital devices are also collapsing. In this ubiquitous environment, services
that can connect the users’ life seamlessly, regardless of time, space, and device, will play the most crucial part.
I can confidently say such services will be provided by internet platform providers. That is why the largest corporations
from various industries are struggling to take the lead in the internet platform field. Cyworld is the most advanced service
in the world, where you can take a glance now at how the future will look when ubiquitous computing is fully realized. Moreover,
Korea is ‘the market’ where
such competition and Digital consumer demand is most intense and contributing most.
Like many of you reading this page I also still marvel and dream about how we best
use Digital know how to further engage and make relationships with each other more rewarding and can proudly say the essence
of Cyworld and Digital Korea will be a global and uninhibited inspiration for some time to come.
This book caters for both those already with some insight into Korea and also those learning and discovering Digital cyber
athletes, secrets and relevance for the first time. The authors have done extremely well to position Korea against other World references in a balanced, simple and elegant way. Valuable
to the reader is the thoughtful and comparative approach benchmarking the amazing Korea influences with other country achievements and allowing the opportunity to
challenge and discover the relevance of the world class mass market case studies in an easy supportive way. This book is also
a great independent reference for Digital vision and innovation globally.
Dr Hyun-Oh Yoo
President and CEO Korean SK Communications
Operator of online world,
CYWORLD service
